Beaufort Golf Club
When we arrived at Beaufort last night we learned two things immediately. It has a fantastic location – the McGillicuddy’s Reeks provide a spectacular backdrop – and they have peacocks, which have an unmistakeable call.
We met Joe, the barman, and Hans, the chef, and spun our tale. A quick phone call to Tim was all it took to make sure it was OK to park the camper overnight, then came the two pints of Guinness. It wasn’t busy so we chatted with Joe and Hans some more before they engaged each other in a putting competition on the practise green. It looked like Hans was winning as we headed back to the van for the evening.
We had a tee off time 09:00 but since we don’t usually like to hang about of a morning we went off at 07:45 after Clive left a note for Colm at the shop.
It was another gorgeous morning and, handily, the greenkeepers were out just in front of us so we got to putt on dry greens. And the greens were amongst the best I’ve seen. They were immaculately presented (not even a stray pitch mark), played pretty fast and some of them were huge. The fairways were also beautifully cut.
For a 12 year old course it looks very mature. There are plenty of trees around but the course does have a open, vaguely linksy, feel to it. The peacocks are ever present, their call is easily heard from all over the course, and the McGillicuddy’s Reeks round off the character of this place.
Thomas says:
I was very impressed with Beaufort right from the moment I arrived. The view down the 17th, a short par 3, was amazing; with the mountains as a backdrop, the remains of a castle to the right and much of course visible from the tee box it was easy to be impressed. However, even though the course was faultless for me it lacked a certain something. Everything was immaculately well presented but, aside from the 17th, I don’t think it has any truly memorable holes. Which is not to say it’s a boring course – far from it. (And remember, what I think is memorable you might think is dull!). I guess it’s difficult to compete with the natural surroundings.
Having said that there’s nothing pretentious about the course and the people we met were just the kind of people you would hope to meet, welcoming and friendly and interested in our story.
Thomas’ rating: 8/10
Clive says:
It was lovely to wake up on this Churchtown estate to look over the magnificent McGillycuddy’s Reeks – with the highest mountain in Ireland – Carrauntoohil (over 3000 feet) looking down at you. Setting off at 7.45 we approached the picturesque 1st – a par 5. Looking back on the 18 holes I thought it one of the best holes. Generally I preferred the outward 9 although the inward 9 have the castle in view from most holes. It’s a long time since I have played a course with so many doglegs, so positioning is of the utmost importance.
There are lots of courses in the Killarney area although they are much more costly than others throughout the country. However we have at last played a couple of courses in this part of the world. The weather was, of course, fantastic but I would recommend this course to the average golfer. You shouldn’t lose too many balls – in fact I lost none which is certainly unusual for me.
The locals at the club (some are German, English etc) are very friendly and the 8 or 9 resident peacocks have lusty and very loud calls – they may even waken you up at night – that’s if you are staying in a camper van – no problem for me – I sleep through anything!
